How can I slowly convert my easy aerobic miles to quality miles?

lookin to run wrote:

Let me preface this by saying that my coaches are awful. They hardly care about the team or know anything about programming track workouts. So far I have made more progress training on my own than I have after 4 years of running under their coaching. (Not kidding, including myself there are only 2 kids on the team who have even broken 5 in the mile).

So right now I am running about 70-75 mpw on my own for the first time in my life, and the aerobic gains I have made are unlike anything that I have achieved in the past. (Previously the highest I had ran at was 55mpw). Anyway, due to some unrelated-to-running complications, I did not run on my school's cross country team this season. Instead, I have been running on my own and further building on my summer training by logging in a lot of easy miles.

These are my questions:

Since I missed out on doing cross country type workouts, what can I do to help me transition from a base building period directly into indoor track season?

This is the highest I have been up in mileage, so how much should I decrease it by when subbing in more quality miles with workouts? How would I even begin to structure that?

I am hoping to run a 4:30 1600 this season after my previous PR was 4:46 (I was capable of going faster).

I appreciate any and all advice.

NIKE FREE ME wrote:

I have run a few times over 140, but when I made my biggest breakthroughs was after I averaged 120-130 for the over 6 months over the winter time after an average XC season. When I started this I wasn't a bad runner, but not where I wanted to be. I was a 4:06 15 guy, and 8:45 3ker, 15:06 5ker. I felt like it was a time to really take a chance w/my running, i didnt want to ever say what if i did more?

I ran doubles everyday, with the average pace spot on to 7:30-8, no slower no faster. but then for 4-5 times a weeks I'd run 60-75 min progression runs based soley on feel. I'd start out at about 8 min pace for 15 min or so, then about every 3-4 min or so i'd drop the pace the better i felt. by the end i'd go till I felt like i was flying as fast as I could without breathing hard or feeling like I was laboring much. i'd aim for the last 7 min or so to end on the track and run a few laps and then time my last mile. after a few weeks my times for that mile started to drop, and it would feel the same effort. started out barely being able to break 5 min, to running 4:35 w/out loosing breath. I really would only finish on the track once, maybe twice a week to keep just to remind myself that i was still in shape.

after just three months I raced while running about 125 a week, still only doing progression runs and sprint strides as my only workouts. I ended up that winter running semi-big p.r.'s of 8:28, 14:48 but still felt tierd and out of shape while Iw as doing it. I continued to focus on each week. didn't stray much and by the end of outdoor I ended up running 3:52 for the 15, 14:12 for 5k and this past Xc season i ran well over 80 seconds faster on each course i ran on than the previous year. as wierd as it sounds i felt like my speed over the shorter distances was the one thing that was most effected when all was sound in done, hence the major drop in my 1500 time. in the spring I did lower my mileage thou, as i attempted to hover right at the 100mile mark for each week while tapering for almost each race. I did feel flat around may thou, but prolly because of a lack of a REAL tappering plan. In the summer I just did the same thing as before all the way through xc running 4-6 prog runs a weeks at about 135 average. I still feel as though my times will drop, but i suppose time will only tell. my first indoor race is just around the corner.

but i really feel the major key about the mileage is how EASY i was runnign when i was not doing prog runs. YES the prog runs would be sporatic and i would deciede while iw as doing them if in fact i was going to really do it or not, but on easy runs i would stay right around 8 minutes for the whole time.

Some call this "junk mileage" but i feel like the only junk miles are the ones done slower than my threshold, but yet TOO FAST to recover from fully over the high mileage distance. after all they are called easy runs for a reason. If i ran my easy runs at like 6:30 pace or faster as some say a 14:12 guy should be, then i would feel as though im too tierd on my hard days and wouldn't be able to run a 4:30 last mile on a 10-12 mile progression run. thus if the high end speed outcome is compromissed, so too is most of the workout, resulting in me being over tired and over a few months a little bit slower than i would else have been.

My 2 cents, for a loser college kid who does nothing but run and think about running his next run. Not gunna lie, when you run this much it makes you feel like a robot, it reminds me of that scene in fight club when he says "once you start fighting (or running 130-140mpw)everything else seems to have the volume turned down around you." that is what my life has become...